I smack it, not too hard, and instinctively say, “No! Bad book, it’s not nice to bite people.”
To my utter shock and the Voice's amusement, the book whines as the corners of it droop down like it’s sad.
Clearly not learning my lesson, I reach out again, “Hey, it’s okay. Maybe no one taught you it’s not nice to bite, or I woke you up. I bite people when I get woken up.”
My hand hovers over the top of it too close, considering I got a glimpse of its razor-sharp teeth, and it could definitely take my hand off if it wanted to.
It surprises me when, instead of tearing my hand into a bloody mess, it nudges it gently, almost as if it’s asking for pets.
“Oh, you like pets?” I ask as I stroke the cover and pretend that this isn’t close to the craziest thing that I’ve done. “I can give pets, just don’t bite me.”
It whines again and sticks out a huge forked tongue, panting like a dog that's happy.
It’s cute.
I never thought I would describe a demon book as cute, but it is.
After ten minutes or so of pets and scratches, I realize that Zephyr still hasn’t appeared.
“Huh, I guess he must be asleep or something. I'd better get back to the guys,” I say reluctantly as I stroke the bitey book one last time and turn around.
It whines.
I crumble. I’m weak, I know I am.
“Do you want to come with me?” I ask it and grin as it starts bouncing around the table, growling and yapping.
I’m going to take that as a yes.
But he is in the basement, so I should probably check with House first to see if I can remove him from the basement or if it will cause some kind of apocalypse or something.
“House, can I take the bitey book with me upstairs?” I ask.
I feel House’s familiar magic swell for a moment, and then, to my utter shock, words appear on the wall in front of my face.
“Yes, but he mustn’t leave the property.”
“Wow, that’s new.” I mutter in awe and then add, “Thanks, House, don’t worry, I think he will just be happy to leave the basement.” I turn back to the book that's been waiting patiently, “I’m going to pick youup to take you upstairs with me. If you are not on your best behavior, I will bring you back down immediately, understood.”
The book yips and then runs around in circles again, and I stare at it for a moment before shrugging. I can’t leave it down here, and House said I could take it upstairs, so I’m going to risk him being a menace.
“Don’t bite me,” I add as I reach for the book and gently pick it up.
He’s heavier than I thought he’d be, but he doesn’t bite me, and instead he nudges my arm gently, his forked tongue snaking out and licking me a few times, making me giggle.
The guys are going to love this.
Giving the basement one last glance, I frown. I was really hoping that Zephyr was going to come and sit with us.
Maybe he’s just really unsociable, and when he heard why I was down here, he thought, nope, that’s not for me, I’ll just pretend I’m asleep. Admittedly, I have been guilty of doing that in the past, so I completely understand the reasoning.
He spent some time with us this morning, but that doesn’t mean anything. He could be someone whose social battery runs out pretty quickly, and the thought of socializing twice in one day is just too much.
“Or he could just not like any of you,”my bitchy insecure inner voice mutters.
I smack that bitch away, we haven’t got time to think shit like that.
I’ll come back in the morning or something, because I am definitely overthinking this, and if I carry on, I’m going to spiral, and then that spiral will become another spiral, which will become another spiral,and I’ll find myself hopping from one spiral to another, curled up in a blanket fort with Asael and Betty.
